The Nigerian Police have denied falsifying the pictures of suspects shared by it’s handle on Twitter stating that there was no misrepresentation or intention to deceive members of the public.
Recall that after a picture was shared by the Twitter handle on December 1st on the suspects captured by the Nigerian Police and the items recovered, it came under fire for allegedly photo shopping the pictures attached to the post.
The Nigerian Police stated that the ‘pictures were taken separately and merged into one screen for seamless understanding of the story line.’
Read the statement below;
The attention of @PoliceNG has been drawn to comments in the social media erroneously suggesting that the photos of the suspects shared on the Police handles on 1st December, 2020 were falsified. The Force wishes to state categorically that there was absolutely no misrepresentation or any intention whatsoever to deceive members of the public.
To set the record straight, in the case involving one Talatu Ibrahim, female, 40years old from Shinkafi LGA, Zamfara State from whom six (6) AK49 rifles were recovered and one other, Duleji Alhaji Abubakar a.k.a Ori jeje who gets arms supply from her to carry out series of kidnapping and armed robbery in Kwara State, the pictures are authentic and true representation of the suspects and exhibits.
However, the pictures were taken separately and merged into one screen for seamless understanding of the story line. The arms showcased in the picture were the exhibits recovered by Police operatives from the suspects.
Similarly, with respect to the photo of the re-arrested inmates who escaped from lawful custody at the Oko Correctional Centre, Benin City during the ENDSARS protests, one of the suspects, Alhaji Hudu Musa a.k.a Mai Cellular, had already been taken out for investigation purposes at the time the group picture was taken on 1st December 2020, a day after the public parade of the suspects.
His picture was therefore taken separately and merged with the three others in the group picture for presentation purpose and to enable readers and viewers have a one-stop glance of the suspects in the story for easy follow-up and understanding.
It is imperative to state that editing photographs only becomes unethical or condemnable if the purpose is to create non-existing facts, misrepresent the facts or engage in outright falsification of the images or figures for purposes of deception or other ulterior goals.
None of these was the case in the above two scenarios.
The Force, therefore, enjoins members of the public to discountenance reports and comments that the images were falsified. Kindly find attached videos of the parade of the suspects with pressmen in attendance on 30/11/2020.
Watch the video below;
PHOTOS OF SUSPECTS SHARED ON NPF OFFICIAL HANDLES NOT FALSIFIED
The attention of @PoliceNG has been drawn to comments in the social media erroneously suggesting that the photos of the suspects shared on the Police handles on 1st December, 2020 were falsified. pic.twitter.com/MBGdkSqSHH
— Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) December 2, 2020
